Company gears up to meet school’s electric challenge

An Alnwick company is engineering support for a school project to build a green-powered car.

Metrology Software Products (MSP) has teamed up with the Duchess’s Community High School for the Greenpower IET Formula 24.

It is helping the students to design and build their own electric car.

The project, set up by the Greenpower Education Trust, involves more than 500 schools and 8,000 students from around the UK.

MSP commercial director Tony Brown said: “This is such an excitingproject and it is an honour for us at MSP to be involved. Our involvement is much more than sponsorship, we want to support the students as much we can and throughout the project, our engineers will be available to help with any composite and engineering challenges the school may face.”

For the challenge, students have to design and build a single-seated electric car.

Design technology teacher Mike Skinner said: “Having anambitious company like MSP involved right at the initial design stage has been a hugebonus for our Greenpower teams. They have the knowledge and expertise in CADCAM that is really helping us to refine and improve our new car chassis design for 2015.

“The MSP volunteer engineers have been excellent support for us, and have enabled the student team members to really focus on key elements of the chassis design.”

Throughout the year, the teams race their cars at well­known tracks across the country in regional heats, competing to qualify for the national final, which is held in October at Goodwood Motor Circuit.

Teams must compete in at least one heat and finish in the top three. Or they can qualify by completing the most miles in any one race. The Duchess’s enters the race held at Croft Park Circuit in Darlington.

Mike said: “Funding from a company like this has really enabled us to push the envelope in terms of the ambitions of the team and to focus on developing a competitive race car that can be built from materials that otherwise would be outside of our budget. It also gives us the opportunity to expand the team for the coming season with a view to having an all-­female crew which should help to keep the boys’ crew on their toes.”